Ready to do more? Try out these tips and tricks to make your Windows Phone the most productive, the most connected, and the most fun it can be. Go to a category to get started.

Notes

This topic is about Windows Phone 8.1. If your phone is running Windows Phone 8, some options and icons may look a little different and some features may not be available. Check to see which software version you have and find out if an update is available.

Some apps and features won't work on phones with less than 1 GB of RAM. To see how much memory your phone has, check the manufacturer's website or your phone's documentation.

Swipe to see your apps. Swipe over from Start to see your App list. Tap any letter to see the entire alphabet, and tap another letter to jump there—or tap Search

to go straight to a specific app.

Screen rotation lock. Read on the couch, in bed, or hanging upside down from a tree—it's all possible with the screen rotation lock. In the App list, go to Settings

> Screen rotation to turn it on.

Back it up. Save it all to the cloud—back up your App list, settings, texts, and photos. In the App list, go to Settings

> Backup to turn it on.

Notifications and quick actions. It's simple to check your notifications and quick actions on the fly. Swipe down from the top of the screen to open action center. Tap a notification to open the associated app (for example, email) or swipe over to dismiss the notification. Tap a quick action (such as rotation lock or brightness) to use it.

Curb your data. In the App list, go to Data Sense

to manage your phone's data usage. You can also use Wi-Fi Sense to have your phone automatically connect to open Wi-Fi hot spots. Just tap Settings

Word suggestions. Give those fingers a rest—the Word Flow keyboard can predict the next word in your sentence. As it learns your writing style, it'll make better predictions.

Faster, more fluid typing. With Word Flow with shape writing, you can type words with just a few swipes across your keyboard. In the App list, go to Settings

> Keyboard, tap the keyboard you want to change, and then select the Type as I swipe through letters check box.

Emote quicker. You can set your keyboard to switch back to the alphabet automatically after you type an emoticon. In the App list, go to Settings

> Keyboard > Advanced and then select the Switch back to letters after I type an emoticon check box.

Switch languages. Use more than one language? Once you add a new keyboard language, you can quickly switch to it with a tap of the language button on the keyboard. For example, if you usually use the English (United States) keyboard, tap the ENG button, and the keyboard switches to the next language you've added.

.com, .org, .net. Tap and hold the .com key to bring up other common extensions for web or email addresses.

Pop-up punctuation. Tap and hold the period key to bring up other common punctuation marks. Try tapping and holding other keys to find less common symbols and punctuation, like foreign currency or fancy brackets.

Spelling help. Tap a misspelled word to see suggestions from the built-in dictionary. Tap a suggestion to swap it in.

Look, no hands. Have Speech read your incoming text messages aloud over Bluetooth, a wired headset, or through the phone's built-in speaker—then reply using just your voice. In the App list, go to Settings

> Speech to turn it on.

Share where you're at. Start a new text message and then tap Attach

> My location to send your location.

Back up your messages. You can back up your texts to the cloud in case you ever have to reset your phone, or get a new Windows Phone, and you want to restore them. In the App list, go to Settings

> Backup to turn on text message backup.

Bulk trash. In Messaging

, tap to the left of any message thread to reveal a row of check boxes, select all the threads you want to delete,and then tap Delete

.

Group text. To send texts to multiple contacts at once and keep their replies in one thread, in Messaging

,go to More

> Settings and then turn on Group text

.

Tap, shoot, text. See something unbelievable? Start a new text message and then tap Attach

All safe in the cloud. You can automatically upload every picture you take to OneDrive—at full resolution—or auto-upload your pics using other photo apps you've installed. In the App list, go to Photos

Save your battery. To set Battery Saver to turn on when the juice gets low, in the App list, go to Battery Saver

. Until you get a chance to charge up, it'll turn off some of the features that use the battery in the background. In Usage, you can also select which apps you'd like to run or disable in the background.

Go big. Want to see the contents of your phone on a big screen? Go to Settings